Lisbon man charged with abducting ex-girlfriend Friday

July 3, 2013

LISBON - A Lisbon man charged with the abduction of his ex-girlfriend had a preliminary hearing set for July 8 when he appeared in Columbiana County Municipal Court on Tuesday.

Jeremy R. Mollenkopf, 27, South Beaver Street, Lisbon, is charged with a third-degree felony abduction charge after he reportedly forced Tabitha Kirtley to be tied up by white zip ties on both wrists and with tape across her mouth for about 20 minutes in a vehicle on Friday.

Additionally, court documents alleged Mollenkopf pointed a gun at her and told her he was going to kill her and her daughter if she did not do what he said.

Bond is set at $50,000 cash or surety.

A sheriff's report of the incident states deputies were called to 9552 Darner Road, Lisbon, for a domestic and abduction situation at 11:20 p.m. Friday. When deputies arrived Kirtley was found to have white zip ties on both wrists and bloody scrapes on her knee and the top of her left foot.

She told deputies her ex-boyfriend, Mollenkopf, had been texting her throughout the evening and had asked her to pick him up at the house of his friends, Rick and Kim Rhodes. At 10:30 p.m. she told deputies she left work and picked up Mollenkopf because he had been drinking. They drove down the road looking for part of his fender, which he reportedly said fell off his car. She stopped the car so he could retrieve it and he was taking a long time, so she got out of the car to help him.

She told deputies while she was outside the car, he pointed a handgun at her and grabbed her arm. He then allegedly told her to stop yelling if she ever wanted to see her daughter again. Next he used zip ties to secure her arms and placed tape across her mouth. He began driving down the road with her in the front seat and the gun pointed at her.

According to sheriff's reports, Kirtley asked where he was taking her and he told her not to worry about it. He pulled over to get another beer out of the back of her Jeep and she took a chance by opening the door and running down the road.

He reportedly chased her and yelled he would shoot her. She ran to the home at 9552 Darner Road where there was a light on and he drove away in her Jeep.

Kirtley reportedly located her Jeep the next morning behind Smith's Gas Station in Lisbon. Lisbon police confiscated two guns from the back seat. One was a shotgun with the barrel removed and the other was a black air soft gun.

Deputies learned on Saturday Mollenkopf was at Salem Community Hospital, reportedly with self-inflicted injuries. Upon learning deputies were looking for him, Mollenkopf called deputies.

He had a different story about what happened, telling deputies he was riding in the vehicle with his girlfriend and the next thing he knew he was tied up in the woods. He also claimed he was in the hospital being treated because he thought he was having a heart attack.

In the past, court documents show, another woman from Georgetown, Pa., filed a domestic violence protection order against Mollenkopf in 2009 in Columbiana County Common Pleas Court.